Who was the first film director in China?

A hundred years ago, when movies were first introduced to China, all the films shown were foreign films. It was not until 1905 that the Chinese tried to make their own movies. The first person to pioneer the work was Ren Qingtai, the owner of Beijing Fengtai Photo Studio (also known as Jingfeng, born in 1850 in a gentry family in Sitaizi Village, Faku County, Liaoning Province.)

Build the "Daguanlou Film Park"

In the twenty-eighth year of Guangxu (1902), the first movie was screened in Beijing, which was called a Western movie at the time. A year later, movies became a new entertainment for Beijing people, and Ren Qingtai was also a frequent visitor to movies. He discovered that it was easy to make money by showing movies. At that time, there were no fixed venues for film screenings, but teahouses, restaurants, ice rinks, etc. were used. Ren Qingtai thought: Movies have a bright future, why not build a garden at home just for showing movies? So he spent a huge sum of money to buy a piece of land in Dashilar outside the front door, and started construction in 1904 to build the "Daguanlou Film Park".

Amidst the sound of firecrackers, Daguanlou Cinema Park opened, renting Western movies for screening. This is the first professional cinema in Beijing.

Buy a camera and try to make movies

One day, Ren Qingtai discussed the business situation with Liu Zhongkun, Liu Zhonglun and other apprentices, and found that the business of Daguan Tower was not as good as before. He asked everyone what the reason was.

“They are all Western videos, which are boring to watch.” Photographer Liu Zhongkun said.

"That's right." Ren Qingtai nodded and said, "The Western movies shown nowadays are all about scenery, tricks, and funny jokes, and the time is very short, so it is inevitable that the audience's interest will fade." In fact, Ren Qingtai said I have come up with the idea of ??making my own movie. Moreover, he believes that the principles of making movies and taking photos are roughly the same, and he firmly believes that they will be successful. Regarding the content of the film, Ren Qingtai suggested: "Peking opera is very popular nowadays and is loved by men, women, old and young. If it is made into a movie and shown, it will definitely attract a large number of spectators."

As he said, Ren Qingtai took Liu Zhonglun to Qi Luofu, a foreign company opened by a German in Dongjiao Minxiang, purchased a French-made wooden-cased hand-cranked camera and 14 rolls of film. He asked the company's staff how to use it, tested it on site, and then took it home to start shooting.

Filming "Dingjun Mountain" to celebrate Tan Xinpei's birthday

Who is filming the Peking Opera? Ren Qingtai set his sights on Tan Xinpei, who was known as the "King of Actors". Ren Qingtai is a well-known Peking Opera fan and has a close personal relationship with Tan Xinpei, so he discussed with Tan to film his best film "Dingjun Mountain" as a birthday gift for his 60th birthday next year. For Tan Xinpei, this was an unprecedented way to celebrate his birthday, so he happily agreed.

At the turn of summer and autumn in 1905, the filming of "Dingjun Mountain" began. Ren Qingtai chose Liu Zhonglun, the most skilled photographer in the museum, as the photographer, and he did the work equivalent to that of a director later, such as giving instructions on the angles of the camera, the position of the actors' performances, and starting and stopping filming. Due to lighting conditions, only natural light can be used for shooting. The shooting location was in the courtyard between the front and back of the photo studio, with a large white curtain hung on two pillars, and the camera was fixed on the back wall for the best viewing effect.

Because this was my first time trying to make a movie, the conditions were simple and I had no experience. During the shooting, I would often pause for discussion. When the clouds covered the sun, I had to stop. Just like this, the filming stopped, this scene lasted for about ten minutes, and it took three days to finish.

"Dingjun Mountain" premiered at Daguanlou Cinema Park. Several other teahouses and theaters in Beijing also followed suit. Within a few days, the news that "Boss Tan is really good at acting in movies" spread almost throughout Beijing. Everyone called their friends and came in droves, and the screening room was overcrowded for a while. It was an instant success, and Ren Qingtai was even more interested. In the second half of that year, he filmed Tan Xinpei's second opera film "Changbanpo". By 1908, Ren Qingtai had shot eight films, and the quality was rising step by step.

In 1930, Ren Qingtai died of illness at the age of 80